A penny for the thoughts of George North, who hobbled off with a suspected achilles injury in the dying moments. One of Wales’ most ardent servants would have hardly wanted to bow out of the international arena with rugby’s most unwanted prize, his exit signalling a changing of the guard in Welsh rugby.
“I know the fans are hurting,” said Gatland. “But I honestly do see the light at the end of the tunnel. I see exciting players who with some time are going to be excellent internationals who I know have worked hard. There’s a huge amount of inexperience with players who have not played a lot of regional rugby and we’re exposing them to Test level.”
Match details
Scores: 0-3 Garbisi pen 0-6 Garbisi pen, 0-11 Ioane try, 0-16 Pani try, 0-18 Garbisi con, 5-18 Dee try, 7-18 Costelow con, 7-21 Garbisi pen, 7-24 Page-Relo pen, 12-24 Rowlands try, 14-24 Costelow con, 19-24 Grady try, 21-24 Lloyd con.
Wales: Winnett; Adams, North, Tompkins (Grady 48), Dyer; Costelow (Ioan Lloyd 73), Williams (Hardy 62); Gareth Thomas (Mathias 73), Dee (Evan Lloyd 73), Lewis (O’Connor 73), Jenkins (capt), Beard (Rowlands 51), Mann (Martin 57), Reffell, Wainwright.
Tries: Dee, Rowlands, Grady Cons: Costelow, Ioan Lloyd 2.
Italy: Pani; Lynagh, Brex, Menoncello, Ioane (Marin 75); Garbisi, Varney (Page-Relo 50); Fischetti (Spagnolo 57), Nicotera (Lucchesi 29, 57), Ferrari (Zilocchi 50), Niccolò Cannone (Favretto 85), Ruzza, Negri (Zuliani 60), Lamaro (capt), Lorenzo Cannone (Vintcent 50).
Tries: Ioane, Pani Con: Garbisi Pens: Garbisi 3, Page-Relo.
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (Fra).
Attendance: 72,121.
